A BMX biker performs a mid-air stunt at Mumbai Port Trust Road in Mazgaon

King of the road

A BMX biker performs a mid-air stunt at Mumbai Port Trust Road in Mazgaon on Wednesday. Pic/ Shadab Khan

Bookshelf buzz

A suitably new literary chapter

Former VP (marketing) and publisher (children's books) at Penguin Random House India, Hemali Sodhi has launched her own literary agency called A Suitable Agency in New Delhi. And the news has garnered praise across the literary circuit, with Amitav Ghosh calling it "very promising." Sodhi told this diarist that this has been a long-standing dream and that they started with brand consulting last year, and have now taken on literary representation. "Books and stories are our abiding love and what really brings the team at our agency together. We can't wait to see how the story of A Suitable Agency unfolds - what stories we find, and which ones find us. We're open to submissions in all genres and are hoping we will be able to represent some truly brilliant voices, and a list which embodies excellence," she added. And yes, Vikram Seth happens to be her favourite author.

The paperback is back

As the pandemic wreaked havoc across industries and businesses, publishers had to rethink strategy. E-books, many with a lockdown theme, seemed to have struck a chord with readers. Now, one such e-book will see its paperback avatar emerge. The Lockdown Liaisons (Simon & Schuster) by Shobhaa De will be published as a paperback on July 28. Himanjali Sankar, editorial director, explained why the title will now be seen on bookshelves. She said, "These [Lockdown Liaisons] were published as e-books (with four stories each) for six weeks in June-July. But we felt these wonderful stories need to be preserved in one anthology and decided to publish a paperback edition with all 24 stories. The stories capture with perfection the roller-coaster gamut of emotions and experiences that the pandemic has unleashed on people from different walks of life, both men and women, young and old, and we expect this book to have a long shelf life."

Walk of solidarity

What if walking 100 km for 10 days could support migrant workers and their families? The Oxfam Trailwalker 100K Virtual Challenge that starts today, and continues till August 2, will do exactly this. "The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented human tragedy. We saw almost five crore-plus people walking home in extreme conditions. This pandemic may push crores of them below the poverty line. Oxfam India (OI) is doing its bit, and we hope you can join us from wherever you are to support those suffering," Amitabh Behar, CEO, OI, shared with us. It's still not too late to register at virtualtrailwalker.oxfamindia.org.

Dad's the way for Mayur

Mayur Sharma of the iconic Rocky and Mayur duo, took to Instagram to share a heartwarming video. A daddy-daughter date saw him and his daughter, Amaya, baking together. While she was creating her famous gingerbread cake, Sharma was seen preparing starter dough that in his words 'could become the mother of many loaves of bread.'

"Amaya is a baker and runs her Insta channel. Usually, I am behind the scenes. But we had a lovely time baking together," shared Sharma told this diarist. Sharing how baking is helping Amaya learn life skills, he added, "Baking is like life. She learns chemistry as she watches the ingredients react; she learns mathematics when she converts ounces to grams, and patience as we wait for the dough to rise." Though we didn't get to see the final version of the cake or the dough, Sharma says it was
mind-blowing.

This sounds good

A new music property shows how the music industry is adjusting to the times. It's called MMXX_The New Normal and is being hosted by the city-based Glassonion Studios, who are allowing independent acts to use their space for live performances where the sound quality is better than what they would have at home. "It's about playing fresh, original music, and giving artistes a chance to perform within a studio set-up again," said popular guitarist Randolph Correia, who's got a gig lined up there this weekend.

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